SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Video footage--which captured the initial in-person exchange between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin--was posted to Facebook by the German Cabinet on Friday ahead of a scheduled closed door meeting later in the day. (Photo: Screenshot)
It's Settled: Trump Either Did or Did Not Accept Putin's Denial of Election Interference
Presidents met, but reliable account of discussion is absent
Jul 07, 2017
President Donald Trump met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin Friday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Hamburg, Germany, but what exactly was said remains unclear.
One point of clarity is that the meeting was much longer than scheduled, running for over 2 hours instead of 30 minutes.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, accompanied the two leaders for the meeting. The only other people present in the room were two translators--prompting criticism from some experts who say such an intimate meeting is not in the U.S.'s best interests.
According to Tillerson, Trump began the meeting "by raising the concerns of the American people" regarding alleged Russian interference in the U.S. elections. The two leaders, Tilerson told press after the meeting, had a "robust and lengthy exchange on the subject," and Trump "pressed President Putin on more than one occasion" on the issue, he added. Putin reportedly denied the allegation.
"The two leaders agreed that this is a substantial hindrance on the ability of us to move Russian-U.S. relationships forward and agreed to exchange further work regarding commitments of noninterference in the affairs of the United States and our democratic process as well as those of other countries," Tillerson told reporters. "So more work to be done in that regard."
In Lavrov's version of the meeting, Trump accepted Putin's denial of the allegations.
But, according to NBC News, Tillerson departed his briefing without answering whether or not that matched his understanding of the exchange.
The Washington Post notes that "[b]ecause reporters did not witness the presidents' talks firsthand, they have to rely on the accounts of the American and Russian officials in the room."
Given that situation, MSNBC's Chris Hayes said on Twitter:
David Graham similarly charges at The Atlantic: "with no single reliable version of what happened between Trump and Putin, there's effectively no truth about it at all."
Trump and Putin also reportedly discussed North Korea, cybersecurity, and, terrorism and reached an agreement on a ceasefire in Syria. In that six-year conflict, Amnesty International said of Russia and the U.S., "Both countries and their allies are responsible for the deaths and injuries of hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
President Donald Trump met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin Friday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Hamburg, Germany, but what exactly was said remains unclear.
One point of clarity is that the meeting was much longer than scheduled, running for over 2 hours instead of 30 minutes.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, accompanied the two leaders for the meeting. The only other people present in the room were two translators--prompting criticism from some experts who say such an intimate meeting is not in the U.S.'s best interests.
According to Tillerson, Trump began the meeting "by raising the concerns of the American people" regarding alleged Russian interference in the U.S. elections. The two leaders, Tilerson told press after the meeting, had a "robust and lengthy exchange on the subject," and Trump "pressed President Putin on more than one occasion" on the issue, he added. Putin reportedly denied the allegation.
"The two leaders agreed that this is a substantial hindrance on the ability of us to move Russian-U.S. relationships forward and agreed to exchange further work regarding commitments of noninterference in the affairs of the United States and our democratic process as well as those of other countries," Tillerson told reporters. "So more work to be done in that regard."
In Lavrov's version of the meeting, Trump accepted Putin's denial of the allegations.
But, according to NBC News, Tillerson departed his briefing without answering whether or not that matched his understanding of the exchange.
The Washington Post notes that "[b]ecause reporters did not witness the presidents' talks firsthand, they have to rely on the accounts of the American and Russian officials in the room."
Given that situation, MSNBC's Chris Hayes said on Twitter:
David Graham similarly charges at The Atlantic: "with no single reliable version of what happened between Trump and Putin, there's effectively no truth about it at all."
Trump and Putin also reportedly discussed North Korea, cybersecurity, and, terrorism and reached an agreement on a ceasefire in Syria. In that six-year conflict, Amnesty International said of Russia and the U.S., "Both countries and their allies are responsible for the deaths and injuries of hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children."
President Donald Trump met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin Friday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Hamburg, Germany, but what exactly was said remains unclear.
One point of clarity is that the meeting was much longer than scheduled, running for over 2 hours instead of 30 minutes.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, accompanied the two leaders for the meeting. The only other people present in the room were two translators--prompting criticism from some experts who say such an intimate meeting is not in the U.S.'s best interests.
According to Tillerson, Trump began the meeting "by raising the concerns of the American people" regarding alleged Russian interference in the U.S. elections. The two leaders, Tilerson told press after the meeting, had a "robust and lengthy exchange on the subject," and Trump "pressed President Putin on more than one occasion" on the issue, he added. Putin reportedly denied the allegation.
"The two leaders agreed that this is a substantial hindrance on the ability of us to move Russian-U.S. relationships forward and agreed to exchange further work regarding commitments of noninterference in the affairs of the United States and our democratic process as well as those of other countries," Tillerson told reporters. "So more work to be done in that regard."
In Lavrov's version of the meeting, Trump accepted Putin's denial of the allegations.
But, according to NBC News, Tillerson departed his briefing without answering whether or not that matched his understanding of the exchange.
The Washington Post notes that "[b]ecause reporters did not witness the presidents' talks firsthand, they have to rely on the accounts of the American and Russian officials in the room."
Given that situation, MSNBC's Chris Hayes said on Twitter:
David Graham similarly charges at The Atlantic: "with no single reliable version of what happened between Trump and Putin, there's effectively no truth about it at all."
Trump and Putin also reportedly discussed North Korea, cybersecurity, and, terrorism and reached an agreement on a ceasefire in Syria. In that six-year conflict, Amnesty International said of Russia and the U.S., "Both countries and their allies are responsible for the deaths and injuries of hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.